


Sun is shining up ahead

by Silverdancer



Category: VIXX
Genre: Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, Excessive descriptions of coffee, Fluff, Future Fic, M/M, Slice of Life, Youtuber Cha Hakyeon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:22:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21905152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverdancer/pseuds/Silverdancer
Summary: Of course, Hakyeon keeps working on his youtube channel. Except maybe he doesn't do it by himself.
Relationships: Cha Hakyeon | N/Jung Taekwoon | Leo
Comments: 16
Kudos: 46
Collections: kbas secret santa 2019





	Sun is shining up ahead

**Author's Note:**

  * For [enpleurs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/enpleurs/gifts).



“Experts say that making good coffee is an art. Everyone can read instructions, but not every person can make good coffee.” 

The camera is set on the counter on the kitchen, pointing at the wall, when Hakyeon comes into the frame with a manual coffee grinder in hand. He sets it on the counter with a soft click, and reaches for something on the cabinet below. 

“At least that’s what Assistant says,” his voice sounds over the image of the video briefly, laughing softly before continuing. “That’s why we are going to try to do our own coffee, from grinding the beans to brewing it ourselves.”

Hakyeon’s voice echoes slightly on the empty kitchen, even when he speaks softly. “The most important thing there is, I’m being told, is to grind your own beans,” he explains as he sets everything that he’s going to need for this stage in a way that is too pretty to be casual. The image freezes, leaving Hakyeon mid movement and tiny arrows point to the names of things, for easy following of the instructions; from the scale to the bowl to the spoon that he’s going to be using to pick up the beans. When it unfreezes it’s time to start measuring the beans. “We are going to prepare a couple of servings of coffee, just so both Assistant and I can try it, but you should adjust the amount depending on how many servings you want,” Hakyeon explains as he looks over the amount of beans in the bowl, and then pauses, looking behind him, adding a couple of spoonful of beans to the bowl before closing the bag. 

He moves on without speaking, the background music taking over as he pours the beans into the coffee grinder and starts to make it work. To the untrained eye it would look just like in any of his videos, where he does anything confident in his knowledge. But there’s a tell, if you know where to look, where he fumbles more than usual, and more importantly, where his attention keeps going to something — someone — behind him. The image speeds up after the first seconds of grinding, and comes back to normal when it I done, Hakyeon showing the beans now transformed in very thin powder, ready for the next step.

The image cuts now, the whole area cleared, and camera moved to show the stove clearly. There’s a new, clear bowl where the powder from before has been put in, and a stovetop coffeemaker already prepared. 

“The next step is the filtering. There are apparently a lot of different ways to get the coffee out of the powder you’ve made. Today, we are going to go with what Assistant has deemed the way that has less of a chance of failure,” Hakyeon explains, picking up the coffeemaker. Before he has completely finished unscrewing, he can’t help but add, “although he wouldn’t say it in so many words.” 

Someone mutters something outside the frame, too softly to be picked by the camera, but Hakyeon clearly hears because he laughs right after it. 

“Anyway,” Hakyeon continues, pretending that that did just not happen. “You need to open it first, and then this part will have two pieces,” he puts the top half on the counter and shows to the camera the two parts of the lower half. “Now, take this and put some water in. Then, you put the filter back, and put your grind coffee inside of the filter, until you top it up.” Hakyeon does so as he speaks, filling the lower container with water before assembling the filter; picking the powder carefully with a spoon, trying to not make a mess of the whole kitchen.

“When you’re done, you just need to put this together again, and put it on the stove,” he says, turning the stove on and putting the coffeemaker on top. “And now, we wait.” 

The video speeds up again, a counter on the corner as the coffee gets ready. On the background, Hakyeon moves in and out as he cleans up the kitchen space, leaving no trace of today’s experiment. Sometimes an arm that is definitely not Hakyeon’s will appear, handing Hakyeon something, or taking something from him, long fingers being enough of a tell for longtime viewers to know that this is Assistant’s arm.

(He doesn’t like coming into the videos directly, and Hakyeon respects that by never saying his name on camera.)

At some point before the 10 minute mark hits, Hakyeon checks the coffeemaker on the stove, peeking through the opening on top. Deeming it good enough, turns the stove off and the video resumes regular speed as Hakyeon takes the coffeemaker off the stove.

The angle is changed again, the focus on the counter, the coffeemaker and a couple of mugs on top of it. 

“And that is how you _really_ make coffee. Now, for a bonus: Testing time,” Hakyeon’s voice singsongs, his arms appearing to pour a small amount of coffee in each mug.”Assistant is the only one who can really judge if this is good or not, so he will try it first and if it is good, we will make ourselves nice-,” Hakyeon’s explanation is cut out by Assistant’s cough. There’s a moment that the camera misses, a beat of silence too long, and then Hakyeon is laughing. “Or maybe not.” 

The video ends, a small credits scene with a closeup image of coffee being poured out into a small glass, the hand on frame definitely not Hakyeon’s.

***

The video starts with a short clip of Hakyeon laughing, face barely in frame at all. There’s soft music layered on top of it, right as the series title appears on screen, but even as the sound of the laugh fades into silence the small glimpse of a smile in the screen is enough to light a whole room.

There’s a small cut after the title screen, Hakyeon facing the camera now with a soft smile on his face. “On today’s video we will be giving a new life to an old drawer!”He’s wearing a soft black t-shirt and no make up and looks radiant. Hakyeon steps aside then, briefly showing the drawer he’s going to re-purpose, but the camera follows him instead. 

There’s a soft music playing in the background, not over the video, but in the room where Hakyeon has his station set, the music carrying over to the camera microphone and to the recorded video. A soft piano melody with no lyrics, nothing recognizable. Hakyeon sets the drawer on the station, and starts to work. The camera follows all his movements, someone clearly working behind it.

Hakyeon’s voice narrates all his actions, this time over the video, explaining the reason behind all his actions. “We need to prepare the surface before painting it,” he says, as he works with sandpaper over the drawer’s outer surface. 

Even in voiceover he sounds soft and soothing. 

Watching the process of the drawer’s transformation is mesmerizing, Hakyeon’s hands doing quick and precise work on it. When the sanding is done, it’s time for the paint. “It’s important to make an even thin coat first, it doesn’t matter if it looks like there are patches on it. We can cover them later with a second later, but the paint needs to dry well.”

Once the first layer is done, the image cuts to the next day. Hakyeon is sitting in front of the drawer again, a new song playing on the background, the light hitting from a different angle than seconds before. The camera moves around, showing the state of the drawer, the first layer of paint already making a great work on making a difference, and then settles someplace behind Hakyeon, focusing on his work again. 

On his hands. 

“If you have trouble holding on the piece without staining yourself, one trick is to stagger the painting, leaving the whole area you’re holding last until the rest is dry, and then change your holding point.” An arrow appears on the video, pointing somewhere outside the frame, now focused on Hakyeon’s hand movement as it glides the brush across the drawer surface. “You would know this if Assistant did not zoom so much and only focused on my moving hand,” Hakyeon says, and laughs sheepish. 

“But of course, he likes to focus on the details, doesn’t he?”

***

Hakyeon sets the cup of tea beside the computer, sitting to continue with the editing of his new project. He cradles the cup near his face, the tea too hot to drink just yet. The apartment is in absolute silence and Hakyeon sighs. The apartment is empty because he asked for it to be, because he did not want to interrupted, and now it has turned against him.

The silence is the whole reason he has the tea in the first place. 

Someone in the universe must really love him because Taekwoon choses that moment to come back from his afternoon walk with Siwol, saving Hakyeon from his misery. 

Siwol comes in running, right to Hakyeon’s legs. Hakyeon, of course, bends to scratch at pat him like the good boy he is until he’s had enough and abandons him for some water. Then it’s time to greet the big puppy waiting for him, peeking at the computer discreetly. 

“No spoilers,” Hakyeon chides him, getting up to greet him with a kiss. Taekwoon meets him in the middle, but not before sticking his tongue out like the brat he is.

“How is it going then?” 

Hakyeon considers lying but then, “Better now that you’re here.” The shade of red that starts creeping on Taekwoon’s neck makes it a worthy confession, even if he loses sight of it when Taekwoon walks to the kitchen to hide. 

It’s brings Hakyeon joy that even after this time he still has this effect on Taekwoon.

“Didn’t you just kick us out because we were distracting you?” 

_Touché_.

“You were!” Hakyeon picks his mug again, cradling it against his chest as if it were some kind of protection, watching Taekwoon get comfortable on the floor, right in front of the couch and calling Siwol over, right in front of Hakyeon’s current working space. “But it turns out it’s even more distracting when you’re not here.”

Taekwoon laughs, muttering something under his breath that sounds like “ridiculous”. Hakyeon doesn’t know why he finds him as endearing as he does.

“Keep mocking me and I’ll make the next video about you,” Hakyeon threats, voice low, but low enough to be heard at the other end of the apartment where Taekwoon is suddenly coughing and staring at him.

He doesn’t mean it, but Taekwoon doesn’t need to know that.

***

“Woah, you’re the prettiest cat around aren’t you?”

Hakyeon sits very still, holding his filming stick with one hand and trying to pet the cat with the other, slowly as if not to scare him away. As it happened with the last 5 he tried. This one seems more curious about the phone filming him than the camera, so maybe Hakyeon will be lucky this time. 

He holds out his hand within the cat’s reach and waits, his breath catching without Hakyeon himself noticing, only breathing out when the cat moves forward, reaching out to touch Hakyeon’s hand with his head. As soon as his hand makes contact, he starts to scratch the cat between his ears and under his chin. “Yes, yes you are the prettiest cat, and you like petting, don’t you?” Hakyeon asks. It might come out with the voice he uses for babies, and while it was not on purpose, he’s not going to complain. This is clearly a baby in need for affection. 

In no time the cat is purring, loud enough that Hakyeon faintly hopes it’s caught on camera. He’s not too worried though, the feeling is too magical to worry about things like that right now. 

“Are you seeing this, Taekwoon? This one likes me,” Hakyeon says, moving closer to the cat as it lays down to be scratched on his back. “Do you think Siwolie would mind a friend?” 

Hakyeon gets distracted for a moment, thinking how he’ll have to edit the audio for this moment later, knowing Taekwoon is not perfectly comfortable with appearing fully in Hakyeon’s videos. Everyone that knows them a little knows for sure it is him, the small glimpses that he doesn’t mind showing being recognizable enough, but that is a world different than his name being called or his face being shown. A little music over this part should be enough to cover the slip though, he thinks. 

And that’s when he realizes that Taekwoon has not answered his question. Hakyeon turns around to see if there’s something wrong and freezes when he takes in the scene in front of him.

Taekwoon, sitting in one of the coffee tables, three cats in his lap and two more on the table, all of them demanding attention from him. Taekwoon doesn’t have enough hands to satisfy all their needs, but he keeps trying, and since they are not leaving, he must be doing well even if his coffee and the snacks he ordered for himself lay abandoned in the table beside him. It’s the sight of a sixth cat, climbing the table and approaching Taekwoon, the magical cat petter, that makes Hakyeon break laughing. The cat Hakyeon was petting absently startles with his laugh, and curls around himself to nap a little. Hakyeon would have noticed if not for how busy he was staring at Taekwoon.

And of course, as if following a siren call, Hakyeon’s laugh brings Taekwoon’s attention to him. Taekwoon must notice he missed something, asking “What?” over the pile of fluff he has on him. 

It’s even cuter that he tries to be menacing.

God, Hakyeon is in trouble. “You are _so cute_ ,” he says, as if that explains everything. 

Taekwoon’s only reply is to squint even more menacingly at Hakyeon, and that’s the last Hakyeon can take before getting up, phone forgotten beside his sleeping cat friend, and getting closer to Taekwoon. Taekwoon, who is still juggling cat pets as if it’s second nature, having integrated the sixth cat into the routine as if it was nothing. No force of the universe can stop Hakyeon from reaching out with his hand and, very much like he did with the cat before, try to scratch under Taekwoon’s chin. 

And of course, Taekwoon would not be Taekwoon if he did not try to reach out and playfully bite Hakyeon’s hand. 

Laughing more, Hakyeon reaches out to grab one of Taekwoon’s snacks beside him, and keeps laughing when Taekwoon tries to reach out to stop him only to be interrupted by a loud, insistent meowing. 

“Looks like you have work to do.”

***

Hakyeon wakes up to an empty bed.

The clock on Taekwoon’s bedside table tells him there’s a couple of minutes left before his alarm rings, and he turns around, groaning onto Taekwoon’s pillow. It’s not like a couple of minutes are a lot, but it would be nice to spend them with your boyfriend in bed the one time he gets to wake up before he has to. 

And then he hears exactly _why_ he has woken up. 

The unmistakable sound of coffee beans being grind betrays the effort Taekwoon went through, closing the door to their room before starting preparing his coffee. Hakyeon wants to be mad for being woken up by it, but laying down on the bed with his eyes closed and focusing only on the sound is weirdly relaxing. 

Of course, that’s when his alarm rings. 

“Why can’t I have nice things?” he groans, dragging himself out of bed and into the light. It helps some to see that Taekwoon, even if he is grinding his coffee, looks as unhappy to be awake and up as Hakyeon feels. Hakyeon chuckles, seeing how Taekwoon hasn’t even noticed him getting out, and walks up to him until he can hug him from behind, face hidden on his shoulder.

“Morning,” Hakyeon murmurs against Taekwoon’s very soft shirt. Taekwoon gurgles something as a reply, which Hakyeon has learned to understand as “you too.” Good enough for pre-coffee Taekwoon. 

It’s a nice morning, with the light coming out warmly and they are both awake in time, so there is literally nothing stopping Hakyeon from getting on the tips of his toes and kissing Taekwoon on the back of his neck. The grinding stops then, Taekwoon turning his head slightly, searching for Hakyeon, and Hakyeon obliges, moving back to his shoulder to kiss him, quick and short and sweet. 

Hakyeon kind of wishes Taekwoon turned around and they could kiss properly. He also knows that if he did, they wouldn’t be able to get anything done all morning. In honor of Taekwoon’s sacrifice, Hakyeon moves away, leaving him to his coffee, and sitting on the floor beside Siwol’s bed. As soon as he does Hakyeon finds himself with a lapful of dog who rightfully demands to be cuddled. Hakyeon obliges happily, watching Taekwoon make coffee almost half asleep, remembering the one time he did it himself and how badly that went. 

“He makes it look so easy, doesn’t he?” Hakyeon asks Siwol the same way he would tell him that he is the best boy in the city. 

Taekwoon snorts, but keeps his focus on the task at hand. The only other signal he gives that he has listened to Hakyeon is the actually _answers_.

“I could teach you, you know,” a pause. “Properly.” 

Siwol curls on Hakyeon’s lap after a while as if it were his bed and Hakyeon pets him absently, enjoying the warmth and the sight of Taekwoon who now that he has put the coffee on the stove is preparing a cup of Hakyeon’s tea for breakfast. 

“No way,” Hakyeon says with a smile, fully aware of the irony, “then you could ask me to do it for you.”

Taekwoon’s only reply is turning around to look at him and stick his tongue out. Hakyeon scrunches his nose and does the same, being able to hold on for a couple of seconds before breaking out laughing. 

The smile that lingers on Taekwoon’s face after that is warmer than the sun. It would be cheesy if it weren’t for the fact that Hakyeon can’t wipe his own grin off his own face.

Not that he’d ever want to.

***

The background music almost serves to distract from the view that is Hakyeon sitting in front of the camera, the angle set so his arms are the only thing that can be seen besides the dishes set on the table. It does not matter that the only thing that can be seen from Hakyeon’s face is his mouth, because his arms are recognizable enough for anyone that has paid attention for more than half a second.

It’s going to be a food show for this episode, and Hakyeon picks his chopsticks visibly excited. The background looks to be the apartment, but someone else is bringing the food. Assistant’s hands, of course.

There’s no voiceover on this one, the title’s video (”A nice homemade dinner”) being the only explanation offer for context. There’s no need for more, with Hakyeon’s soft black t-shirt and the lack of make-up on the little skin that is visible being enough to give the video a warm feeling. Hakyeon says something, the lips moving trying to keep a smile from betraying him, and a kitchen rag comes flying to his face. 

There is no need for sound to be able to feel Hakyeon’s laugh after it. 

And maybe there is no need for more than this, nothing else than soft music, a warm meal and a sincere laugh to make one feel at home. 

No one knows what is the key to happiness, but in moments like this it feels pretty damn close.

**Author's Note:**

> To @enpleurs, I really hope you liked it. I had lots of fun writing it, despite complaining I might have done publicly, and tried to include as uch as I could from what you wanted so you enjoyed it too ♥
> 
> To the dear mod organizing this, you did an awesome work, thank you for organizing this and keep us in check despite the deeply chao _tree_ c bunch we are. Bingo report is: "whatever the fuck you want, all fics should include cats, cuddles, oddly specific job au? (youtuber au? except is canon?), cofy/excessive descriptions of coffee?, meowmies, early mornings, #aesthetic, biting?, something I'd like??? (hopefully), and if we cound one dog as doggos/doggies, then that too.
> 
> Thanks to M, J, R and T for the handholding during this, you will never know how much it is appreciated. 
> 
> And for everyone reading, thank you for giving this a read, I hope you had a good time. 
> 
> Happy holidays everyone ♥
> 
> Title from Step with me, by Mika


End file.
